In today's world, we need to understand and get involved in global issues. The World Affairs Council (WAC) is online to help you do that. Click on About Us to read the history of the World Affairs Council (WAC), find an explanation about their Global Education Program, information about their summer institute, and read about their Public Programs with the weekly national television program World Affairs TODAY; find out where to see the broadcast or get a link to the YouTube channel. There is a student section that describes their annual contest called WorldQuest. Explore the drop down menu tabs across the top and find free lesson plans and templates (under Resources), upcoming events, local WAC councils, and much more. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable. You could always view them at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as KeepVid, reviewed here, to download the videos from YouTube.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Thanks to instantaneous news shows and social media, the students of the 21st Century are very aware of global issues. That is not to say they understand them. Start a current events program in your class, you may want to look at Newsela, reviewed here, TweenTribune, reviewed here, or Flocabulary, reviewed here. Then turn to the World Affairs Council and their YouTube channel to get explanations about global issues. The topics are extensive; some are specific and some are more general like global warming (or climate change) and the failure of the global economy. All are current, and all will give your students a different perspective on the topic. With older students, each week you could put a different small group in charge of featuring a current event and ask them to research its history, and see if they can also find the topic on the WAC YouTube channel. Have those students create an annotated, narrated image including text boxes and related links using a multimedia tool such as Thinglink, reviewed here, to present to the class.

Take a stand against bullying with practical ideas and information from Bystander Revolution. Choose the All Videos link to filter solutions from different perspectives, or filter by specific problems or solutions. Most videos run less than two minutes in length. The presenters include well-known celebrities as well as "typical" students. Sign up for the weekly newsletter that includes a simple transformative task to complete each week along with other helpful tips and videos. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable. You could always view the videos at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as KeepVid, reviewed here, to download the videos from YouTube.

In the Classroom

Use an interactive whiteboard or projector to talk to your class about bullying with these videos. Use this discussion to prompt a journal entry, skit, or other personal response on the topic of bullying and how to handle it. Provide this link for parents to view at home with their students. Challenge cooperative learning groups to create their own videos addressing bullying issues. Start with Amazon Storybuilder, reviewed here, for students to plan their skit. Share them on a site such as SchoolTube, reviewed here. Be sure to share this site with your school's counselors and anyone else who deals with students who are being bullied.

Curating Change offers a showcase of women from different cultures telling stories of how they have made a positive change in their life or community. Each featured woman also includes a curated exhibition of inspiring stories from other women. Examples include filmmakers discussing their fight against gender barriers, health workers taking on poverty, and activists showcasing those that speak out for change for themselves and future generations. Scroll down the page to find similarly curated exhibitions from 2011 through 2013. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable. You could always view the videos at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as KeepVid, reviewed here, to download the videos from YouTube.

In the Classroom

Introduce this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Then have students explore this site independently or in small groups. Have students create a simple infographic sharing their findings using Easel.ly, reviewed here. Have students use Fakebook, reviewed here, to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook from the perspective of one of the featured women or someone that they have helped.

Join the Global Virtual Classroom (GVC) and bring students from other regions and countries into your classroom - virtually! Global Virtual Classroom has been around for a long time and has learned what is needed to create global citizens. They've done everything for you from Lessons, Resources, and a Web Design Contest, to directions for becoming part of the community, providing a list of other educators who would like to participate, and a Clubhouse for your students. Be sure to register by mid September each year!

In the Classroom

Take students to another place, encourage them to understand other cultures and create global citizens by signing up to join GVC. After introducing GVC on an interactive whiteboard or projector, create a quick poll (with no membership required) using SurveyRock, reviewed here, to vote for which country or region to communicate with and share information. Begin a blog for each student to share reflections. Consider asking the partner teacher to have their students blog, too, and encourage students to respond to each others' blogs. Students' writing improves when they have an authentic audience. Haven't started blogging yet? Check out TeachersFirst's Blog Basics.

Another idea would be to use a projector and Lino, reviewed here, (no membership required) to discuss and informally assess prior knowledge about the culture with whom students will be working. Lino creates virtual sticky notes on a bulletin board. Once the project is underway, go back to Lino occasionally, and add what they learned and whether it coincides with the students' original ideas. Before culminating the project, ask the partner class if they will fill in the areas and ideas missed on your Lino. Consider starting a lunch time or after school club for students to have more time to participate in the Clubhouse.

Publish ebooks in any language with Ourboox. Keep track of how many readers you have and read their comments. Sign up with email and get started right away. Click Create, add a title, choose the style of your book (Square Book - a picture book with up to 15 lines of text, or a text-oriented book, more like a long story or novel). Choosing a Square Book enables the ability to have an image (jpeg, png). You can also upload animated GIFs or embed a YouTube Video. Ourboox will step you through the process of getting your book online and publishing it. The pages of the book will flip, and the tool has an accommodation for languages that read from right to left. It can take up to 24 hours for new books to process. Before starting on your own book, you may want to look at others' books to get ideas about the format.

In the Classroom

There is no end to the ideas for stories! Now you can easily publish and share them with Ourboox. At the beginning of the year have students develop stories to tell about their summer and share with classmates. Create a photo story for history, showcasing great people or specific historical events such as the signing of the Declaration of Independence. In the arts, create a photo story of achievements of various artists. In science, create a photo story of famous inventors or have students explain their understanding of cell division. ESL/ELL students can use the site to recreate folk tales from their home countries. Encourage your older students to use this tool for digital storytelling projects created in response to research or extra study. This is a great find for gifted students who want to include art work and use their creativity in productive ways. If students cannot have their own email accounts, consider using a "class set" of GMail subaccounts (managed by you), explained here. This tells how to set up GMail subaccounts to use for any online membership service. This would provide anonymous interaction within your class.

Add text to any image or photo, using a web browser or smartphone, and share with no registration. Choose images from one of seven categories or upload your own. Change the color of the text or elect to add more text. Share using FaceBook, Twitter, or Google+ or the URL given. At the time of this review, all images in the Gallery were appropriate for the classroom. However, we recommend to preview the images before you share with younger students.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Use this easy tool to add captions to images, create memes, or posters for your bulletin boards. Use this easy tool with students during back to school time as a way for them to get to know each other. Have students upload a picture of themselves doing their favorite activity and label it with amusing text or a favorite quote (or song lyric?). Have them upload images that represent their interests and character traits. Print the images with text for a back to school bulletin board. Use after a field trip for students to write captions on the photos they took. Be sure to share the photos on your class webpage, blog, or wiki. Haven't started blogging yet? Check out TeachersFirst's Blog Basics. For other uses, have students practice new words in a world language class by labeling and identifying images in that language. Create writing prompts using several annotated images. Have students create annotated images to explain key terms in science class. In ELA class, make homophone or vocabulary images to show the correct word along with a picture that explains it.

Parable of the Polygons is a playful, yet serious, interactive look at how racism shapes our communities. The underlying theory is that people are generally tolerant and will only want to move if less than 1/3 of their neighbors look like them. Using that pretext, you move unhappy polygons until everyone is happy through an ongoing scenario of different situations.

In the Classroom

Parable of the Polygons is excellent for use in both math and social studies classes. Use in your social studies class to discover how bias affects diversity beginning with small situations through a larger picture. Challenge students to explore and interact through different scenarios to view changes. Have cooperative learning groups create podcasts demonstrating their understanding of one of the concepts. Use a site such as PodOmatic, reviewed here. Share this site as an excellent interactive for use during math fairs.

Panoramio uses Google Maps to encourage you to "share and explore the world in photos." Type in any place in the world to view the map and click on images submitted by other users. Browse by choosing the Explore option to see the world map, tags, or cool places. Double click on any image to view the full size image and additional information.

In the Classroom

If you teach geography, this one is a must. It is also helpful for showing students WHERE a story or news event takes place. In lower grades, use it to show students basics of their community. Teach map skills by showing students their own community. Zoom in on their street or the school. Connect your Google account to Panoramio and upload student pictures of your community.

Did you know that four cell phones a second end up in landfills? That E-waste represents 70% of our toxic waste? Learn about conservation of precious resources, energy efficiency, and how to recycle cell phones for cash or to support a good cause with this infographic. The causes supported by eCycle Best include organizations who conduct medical research, save women from abuse, support our troops, and help endangered species and pets. Use the tabs at the top of the infographic to see how to trade in your iPhone, iPad, Samsung, Smart Phone, and many brands of Cell Phones, Laptops, and Tablets. Under those tabs, you'll see a link for other related infographics that may be of interest such as Life & Death After Usage, Man & His Mobile: A Toxic Relationship, Electronic Waste Recycling Methods, and several more.

In the Classroom

Students love their cell phones and want whatever is the latest and greatest. Create interest by starting a discussion about what's new on the device front. Then ask students what they do with their old cell phones, tablets, laptops, etc. Assign them to count, that evening, how many of these items they have at home that they could recycle. When they come to class the next day do a quick tally and have students multiply this by however many classes are meeting at the same time on your campus. They should start getting the idea that there are many devices out there that can be recycled. Next, share the Cell Phone Recycling infographic with your students using a projector or interactive whiteboard. Does your school encourage giving to the less fortunate during the holidays? For a class project, initiate a recycling campaign and create a center for recycling e-waste. How about holding a 'green' competition to see which classroom submits the most items. Assign small groups to create a public service announcement for your school or community to encourage recycling. Use one of the many multimedia tools reviewed by TeachersFirst here. Donate the cash collected to the school's charity of choice, or one of the charities listed on this infographic. Get parents involved. Make sure they are aware via your website and newsletter about submitting these items to the school. Many parents will be able to contribute items from their workplace that was otherwise destined for the landfill.This site is full of information such as kids and recycling, electronics in education, and many more. Find these by clicking Resources.

Makewaves is a social learning platform for schools to create and publish blogs, videos, pictures, and audio. Free accounts allow you to create a school site with any number of teachers and students. Audio and video uploads are limited to 30 minutes and you can create three badges. Use personalized badges to create your own missions that relate to classroom studies or current events. Take advantage of the many badges already available on the site. The teacher dashboard allows teachers to monitor and manage student content.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Create a class account as a tool for sharing and publishing student creations on Makewave's secure platform. Even if you aren't ready to join Makewave, take advantage of the many lessons and badge activities to incorporate into your teaching units. Share Makewave with parents as a resource for individual learning projects for their student.

Connect Fours is an interactive that is a takeoff of the popular British Gameshow Only Connect. Create a game show using a minimum of 16 cards with word sets or phrases that will fit into four or more categories. After clicking "Create a New Quiz" you can upload a CVS spreadsheet or simply type in the words. Clicking Help, Example, or Submit will bring up directions for the exact formatting needed to have for the successful creation of a quiz. Don't forget to title your quiz! Save the URL or bookmark it to share it with others. Tip: when clicking the cards they ding. You may want to turn the sound down on the computer.

In the Classroom

Create a Connect Fours game with various aspects of information about curriculum content to share with students. Develop activities to review any topic and save for use as a classroom center. Have students create review Connect Fours as a study tool. Be sure to demonstrate how to make and share Create Fours before having students set up their own. Ideas for categorization activities are unlimited, but can include categorizing types of animals, literary elements in novels, habitats, characteristics of geographic areas, and much more.

Two friends with opposing political views created I Side With as a resource for engaging in political discussion and learning about different points of view. Take the online quiz to learn which candidate aligns with your beliefs the most. Explore the many polls on the site to view results from across the country. Break down information from the polls into additional information such as by state, city, party affiliation, ethnicity, and income.

In the Classroom

I Side With is an excellent resource for use during an election unit. Have students research candidate information and compare and contrast points of view. Use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here, or the Interactive Three Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here. Have students explore this site independently or in small groups. Ask your students to visit the site and create an infographic with the information they learn. Use Easel.ly, reviewed here, for creating the infographic. Create a link to the News portion of the site on classroom computers and your class website to use as part of your current events resources.

SheHeroes is a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering girls from ages 8-14 to dream big and pursue any interests regardless of gender. Articles feature well-known and everyday females that serve as inspiration for young girls. Choose the Features link to browse articles by categories such as engineering and sports. The video link offers several short videos of prominent women discussing how they have grown in their careers. Each includes a link to discussion questions for further exploration. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable. You could always view them at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as KeepVid, reviewed here, to download the videos from YouTube.

In the Classroom

Use SheHeroes as part of your Career Day or career unit resources. Add a link on classroom computers for students (male and female) to explore on their own. Take advantage of the further discussion questions to encourage students to think about the obstacles faced by women in business and society. Ask a prominent local business woman to speak to your class and discuss obstacles she has faced and how she was able to overcome those issues. Although the site is dedicated to girls from ages 8-14, share with both boys and girls from ages 8 and up as part of any unit on gender inequalites.

Use newhive as a clean slate to express your ideas, artwork, videos, and more. Begin by using an email address to sign up for a free account. You will then see a blank white slate to start. Easily add text, images, video, audio, files, and shapes. Once you are finished adding content, save to your account by giving your multimedia project a title and tags. Then decide if you want it public or searchable. This tool is simple, quick, and easy to use. The tool requires that a member be age 13 or older.

In the Classroom

Students can use newhive to demonstrate learning of any kind across grade levels and content areas. They can practice good digital citizenship by citing images, videos, and online content properly or use student-created images, videos, and other content. Use this tool as a portfolio for any subject. Art, music, and language arts are naturals for collecting original student work, but what about science? Students can photograph experiments and write up labs and post to newhive for their portfolio. Teachers can use the site as a jump page to guide a lesson or create WebQuests. Make a work prototype page and upload examples of exemplary work to share with students to set expectations for completed products before beginning a project. The uses for this tool are wide open!

Post text online quickly and easily, without registration using shortText. Type or paste text into the text box and click Create URL. Instantly receive the URL to share or use as desired. Options allow users to include a link to a video or image, allow comments, or make the message private.

In the Classroom

Use shortText for quick writing projects on an interactive whiteboard or projector. When modeling writing or notetaking in class, open shortText instead of a word document! Enabling comments would allow students to ask questions about the assignment. When finished, share on your class website using the URL created. Have students use shortText in your classroom when using mobile devices to write a short journal entry or exit ticket at the end of a lesson. Be sure to give students the URL for this and have them identify themselves, so you don't end up with 30 URLs to open and assess. Use this site in world language classes to have students write a blog entry in the new language. Have students write about how they solved a math problem and include an image of their work. Create a standing assignment for elementary and middle schoolers on snow days. Have students write a post about the snow using shortText and share the URL on a class wiki.

TechPrep is a site created for learning about computer science and programming. Start exploring the site by choosing entry as a parent or learner. As a parent, answer a few questions about your student's age and computer programming background. You can access suggested appropriate resources, including websites, games and toys, a coaching guide, and career options. Answer similar questions as a learner to find options for self-exploration. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable. You could always view them at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as KeepVid, reviewed here, to download the videos from YouTube.

In the Classroom

TechPrep is an excellent resource for exploring careers in computer programming with students. Have students or groups collect ideas and findings using Padlet, reviewed here. The Padlet application creates free online bulletin boards. Explore the site together or share on your class website for students to explore on their own or with parents. Use TechPrep to find resources for classroom use such as websites and games. If your school has a computer club, share this site with the leader to use for finding tools for classroom use.

Create bibliographies and works cited with Refme. The reference styles include Harvard, APA, MLA and thousands of others. Not only can you reference the standard sources (books, videos, etc.), but your sources can also be doctoral dissertations, reports, book chapters, legislation, artwork, and more. Create projects, annotate web pages, and add quotes using the RefMe's WebClipper. Scan book and journal barcodes. Sync references across devices. Invite others to collaborate on projects using any device.

In the Classroom

Share with students as a resource for saving and organizing web material. The Webclipper feature allows students to highlight the key information from a page so that a few days down the road they're not wondering why they bookmarked a web page. The bibliography tools help students properly format their Works Cited pages. Use this tool to help keep your students (or even yourself) organized! Make sure you teach plagiarism lessons about paraphrasing and proper citation of sources, so students use this tool properly! You may want to start with a review of plagiarism and copyright law by using Gaming Against Plagiarism (GAP), reviewed here.

Watch live conversations or create your own discussions with Blab. Sign in with your Twitter account to start your own Blab on Firefox or Chrome browsers. Click "Start a New Blab" and send the URL for others to join you. Use the settings to record your Blab if desired. To get ideas for how Blab works, view Blabs created by other users by scrolling through the home page or use the search bar to find specific topics. Two to four people can participate in a Blab, and others can call in with comments and questions. Blabs shared on the site are not moderated, so use caution before sharing with students.

In the Classroom

Connect whole classrooms across the country for book clubs. Create connected learning experiences with other students, especially those in older grades. Connect world language classes to other countries. Students interested in graphic design can connect with an expert or artist far away and share current work in a virtual critique. Connect students with mentors or older students for help with homework. Students working together for a presentation or literature circles can practice, discuss, and communicate easily. Teachers can hold "office hours" for homework help and asking questions. Whole buildings can collaborate and share professional development with others in their own district and beyond!

Use this delightful tool to flip through 20 Flickr pictures. Every image is on the screen for only 20 seconds. Advanced options allow for changing the time and the number of images. See if you can build a story from the pictures with this entertaining tool.

In the Classroom

What a delightful tool to use for impromptu speeches in any class or improvisation in a drama class. Consider uploading images for your curriculum topic to Flickr, reviewed here, and creating a specific tag or tags for the images, and then use pechaflickr as a review tool. Pechaflickr can be a great lesson starter, particularly on those dreary days when kids don't want to work. For lower level kids, it is a brain exercise for such things as an alphabet game (which is more difficult than it first seems!). In an ELA or ESL/ELL class have students create a complete sentence for as many pictures as they can, trying to improve the number of sentences written each time, or they can choose one of the sentences to create a story.

Create a voice recorded message board with Voxopop. Set up a public, restricted, or private talk group. Anyone can listen to public discussions, but you must have an account to contribute to a talk group, create a talk group or set up email notifications to know when someone has contributed to your talk groups.

In the Classroom

Use Voxopop with any language learning students, both ELL/ESL and world languages. Students can practice speaking and listening in their new language. Create small groups to discuss anything from current events, how to complete a math problem, to contributions for group research projects. Use the site with early readers in your Daily 5 literacy for oral reading and listening to others read. Reluctant writers could use this tool to brainstorm their thoughts for a writing piece.

Think about how you want to use this program. Having a restricted talk group means you would invite students via email. When signing up one is asked to give their country, email, and whether you are a student, teacher, or other. There is also an option to give your town/city. With students under 13 consider setting up a class account using a global login. Students would need to give their first name when contributing so you will know who is speaking. With students who are a little older, it might be easier to set up small groups. Consider using Gmail subaccounts, explained here, this tells how to set up GMail subaccounts to use for any online membership service. This would provide anonymous interaction within your class.